deadline

Nov. 2.

That’s the deadline I gave Andrew by which I’d like to have EVERYTHING done around here. (Within reason, of course. Pictures and decorations–yes; garage door project and wood floor in the bedroom–no.)

Why that particular Friday? We’re having guests again!! My girlfriends from college Wendy and Leslie–and Wendy’s two kiddos–will be coming to visit me for the weekend. How exciting is that?!

Wendy and her husband, Gary, did come visit once while we were in Ohio, and I’ve seen both Wendy and Leslie almost yearly since they were in my wedding ALMOST SEVEN YEARS AGO (can you believe it’s been that long? I can’t.). I’m just so tickled they want to come to New York!

So, anyway, I’ve informed Andrew that he has two months to get this place presentable. We’ll have our furniture by then, and (hopefully!) the laundry room will be LONG finished, so it’s really just a matter of making sure all those little projects happen, like hanging pictures and replacing light fixtures and organizing. Andrew asked me to make a to-do list by room, so you bet I’ll be on that today.

Fifty-four days…

and more brown

I picked up two more paint samples this afternoon at Lowes’s. Both Andrew and I thought the first ones were kinda ashy and more gray than we wanted.

Now, I have another problem! I like them both, and (of course) Andrew and I prefer different ones.

The new ones are the four patches below the original four. I painted the two new ones below the first ones, then decided to paint a bit near the floor, too.

I like the tan one as a color, but don’t like it with the floor, or the red couch, really. I prefer the lighter tan/gray color with the floor and couch, but don’t love that it appears close in color to the gray family room just through the hall on the left.

All in all, I think the tan is too yellow, and the other is exactly what I said I wanted–a color exactly in between the first and second original samples. I just don’t know if I love it, or if I can convince Andrew it’s the one to do…

Help! Six samples is already too many!

brown…or brown?

I got four paint samples from Lowe’s for what I’ve been calling our “L-shaped room” downstairs.

I don’t normally get samples; I typically am confident enough in my decision about the paint color that I don’t think I need to sample it. However, this is a pretty big room and I’m not painting twice!

The room will have one of our red couches and a leather chair and light brownish drapes, but that’s all I know for sure. I know I want to keep the room neutral and get away from the red/teal/black theme I had going on in Ohio.

So, I wanted to go with a really neutral and somewhat light shade of brown on the walls.

The first one is way more gray than I’d thought it would be, so it’s out. The fourth one is too dark, so it’s out. The two in the middle I could live with, but I was really looking more something just a bit lighter.

Here are the colors on a different wall that gets less light:

I think I’m going to have to go back to get another sample or two…

And Andrew’s chair is on its way, so I might just wait until it arrives and I can see it in the room before I pick the color. It’s not like there aren’t other things for me to be doing around here!